61 this is dispatch
by stormbringer94
Summary: What if Ramsey wasn't just a concerned dispatch officer? What if his attachment to Dawson wasn't so innocent? Shay and Dawson tell Casey about Ramsey's stalkerish behaviour, but what can they do? Multi-chapter fic. R
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys, sorry about the formatting. Thanks for letting me know. Hopefully I've fixed it now :) _

_I don't own Chicago Fire, or the characters. If I did, we'd see a lot more Severide ;)_

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"God that was creepy." Shay muttered as she stashed her freshly packed kit in the ambulance.

"It was weird, right?" Dawson asked, earning her a raised eyebrow.

"Girl, that was _way_ creepy. I mean, you've only ever spoken off the job for like twenty seconds that one time at Molly's, and now he's being all buddy-buddy over the radio? Come on!"

Dawson grinned at Shay's antics as her phone buzzed in her pocket. Waving off her crazy partner she put the phone to her ear.

"Ooh, booty call from mister big shot lieutenant? Who else would be calling you on-shift? You sly –"

Gabby's panicked expression had Shay quiet instantly. She could hear someone speaking loudly on the other end of the line.

"- how could you do that to me?"

"Ramsey?"

"You and me, we're connected. In ways you don't understand."

Shay watched Dawson hang up before speaking.

"When did you give him you're phone number?" She asked. This was all kinds of weird.

"I didn't. He must have gotten it from the logs at dispatch." Dawson frowned.

Shay faked a shudder. "Stalker alert!"

"That's a bit extreme. I mean I only ever saw him that one time at Molly's." Dawson murmured. "Mind you, how did he even know I'd be there? I mean, he's dispatch. I don't know where he could have heard about the bar!" Shay had never seen Dawson this rattled. The woman was a pillar of strength and sass, but this had clearly knocked the wind out of her

"Come on girl. Let's go get some food and we'll sort it out then, m'kay?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Here's chapter 2. Read and Review please! I don't own Chicago Fire :(_

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The common room was packed. As per usual, Mouch and Otis were in the middle of a heated debate whilst Cruz, Hermann and the lieutenants laughed at them. Otus was quick to notice the paramedics arrival.

"Shay, Dawson, you'll never believe it –"

"Otus, c'mon man, it's over. Leave them be." Casey chuckled, slapping him on the shoulder as he moved to greet the paramedics. Shay figured this was as good a time as any to tell the guys about Ramsey.

"Actually guys, speaking of things you'll never believe, Dawson –"

"I found the little girl's teddy from the apartment fire today in the back of the ambo. Figured we could clean it up, and send it aver to them." Gabby interrupted quickly, holding out the soot-blackened panda.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I'll give it a wash and bring it in at the end of shift." Casey said, dropping a kiss on Dawson's cheek before heading out, followed by Severide.

"Okay, what was that?" fumed Shay, "Why wouldn't you let me tell them?"

Dawson sighed and rubbed a hand over her face.

"Look, you know how the guys get. I'd never hear the end of it from them."

"C'mon Dawson! This guy is dangerous, and we both know it."

"No, we don't." Dawson sighed again. "Look, Shay, you and I both know that being slightly unprofessional is not enough to call this guy out as dangerous. Unless things change, I'm not going to have the entire house playing bodyguard, OK?"

She was right. The politics of sexual harassment were still fresh in their minds after the whole Tara-Severide incident. Despite Dawson's argument, Shay was still convinced the guy was a creep.

"Alright, I'll drop it, but only on one condition."

Dawson frowned at her in suspicion.

"What's the condition?" she asked.

"One more incident; one more call, or text or weird dispatch messages and you tell Casey. Deal?"

All things considered, it was a fairly reasonable request. The intercom rang loudly.

"Ambulance 61. Respiratory distress, 17 Whitmore. Please respond."

"Alright, deal." She said, placing her bag in the ambulance before getting in, "But I really don't think he'll do it again. I was very clear with him."

Shay grinned and climbed in behind the wheel before pulling out of the garage.

"Dispatch, this is Ambo 61 responding. We are on route to Whitmore." Dawson said into the radio.

"Copy that 61. Be advised, freeway 19 is bottle-necked. Take 42 and circle back." Ramsey's voice fizzed over the line.

"Copy that Dispatch. Thanks for the tip."

Dawson turned to Shay and grinned smugly.

"See. He was perfectly professional and –"

"So, Dawson, we must have gotten disconnected earlier. I know you're not the kind of girl to hang up on someone." Ramsey was back.

"Ramsey. I told you to keep it professional." Dawson snapped.

"Calm down Gabby. It's only me. By the way, you're looking very beautiful today."

Dropping the radio Dawson looked up at the street cameras with wide eyes. Shay placed a hand on her wrist before returning it to the wheel.

"OK, Dawson. Keep calm." She said, using her paramedic tone. "We're going to do our jobs, and as soon as we're done at Whitmore, you and I are going to return to the House and tell Casey. Until then, keep calm. Try to keep your face blank and your voice professional. We have to appear normal while he's watching us, ok?"

Dawson heaved in a deep breath and tried to settle herself.

"Alright," she said, "Let's get this done."


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry guys; short chapter. It's more of a filler really. Hopefully this won't happen too often!_

_I don't own Chicago Fire._

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The Whitmore call enough to get Gabby back in paramedic mode. Shoving all thoughts of Ramsey to the back of her mind Dawson focused on the task at hand. "Male. 65 years old. No respiration. I'm going to intubate. Radio Lakeshore and tell them we're on our way."

Shay flew through the city as fast as she could. Ramsey barely had time to make one inappropriate comment before they were pulling into the ambulance bay of Lakeshore General Hospital. After handing over to the doctors, Shay and Dawson drove back to 51. Their shift was almost over and they weren't likely to be called out again that day.

When they reached the station they could see Truck 81 parked in its place. Severide and the rest of the squad guys were lounging at their table. Shay switched off the ignition and jumped out of the rig.

"Ok Dawson, let's go find Casey." Shay said, glancing over at her partner who was staring at her phone. "Dawson, what's up?"

Gabby just shook her head and held up her phone for Shay to see.

_Hey Dawson, took you guys longer getting back to 51 than usual. You ok? Maybe a glass of wine after shift would make you feel better. We should meet up :) R_

"Jesus, why can't this guy take a hint? I mean, the radio is one thing, but this is borderline harassment!"

Dawson didn't answer. Her eyes were still fixed in horror on the tiny screen.

"Look, Gabby, just ignore it. Don't reply."

"I just wish he'd leave me alone." Dawson whispered, burying her face in her hands. Shay reached into the cab and pulled Dawson's hand away.

"Ok, come on. It's time to tell Casey."


	4. Chapter 4

_Here we go. Chapter numero 4 :) _

_I don't own Casey or Dawson or Shay or Chicago Fire, and it breaks my heart :(_

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They spotted Casey just as he was about to turn into the common room. Shay could practically feel Dawson dragging her heels. Two minutes out of the ambulance and she was already talking herself out of it. Letting go of her partner Shay chased after Casey, hoping to catch him before he joined the others.

"Casey, wait up!", she called out. Casey turned at the sound of his name.

"Oh, hey Shay, what's up?", he greeted her, confusion written all over his face.

"One sec." She said turning back to Dawson, who was only just coming around the corner. "Ok, Dawson I'm going to go do inventory. Tell him. Now!"

Shay stared her friend down for a moment before disappearing back the way she came.

"Hey babe." Casey smiled, kissing her quickly. "Tell me what?"

Dawson blew out a long breath and gave him a strained smile. Casey's smile faded into a frown as he faced his girlfriend full on.

"Gabby, what's going on?"

Dawson took another breath, avoiding his intense gaze, before answering.

"There's this guy... Look, forget about it. It's probably nothing."

There was no point in trying to hide her discomfort from Casey. They knew each other far too well to miss the truth, and right now all Casey was seeing was warning signs. Opting for the role of concerned boyfriend over curious lieutenant he stroked her soft cheek with his thumb and held his gaze.

"Shay didn't seem to think so. What is it? Tell me."

Gabby finally looked at him and he could see her come to a decision right there.

"It's just one of the dispatch guys. He's gotten a bit attached to me."

Casey frowned. That wasn't what he was expecting to hear.

"How do you mean?"

Gabby shrugged and took a half step back, reaching up to entwine their fingers.

"He's just getting a bit too personal for my comfort. He watches us while we're out on shift."

"Gabby, he's supposed to do that. Dispatch are our eyes."

A loud shout came from the common room, reminding them of the other occupants of 51. Gabby glanced over his shoulder before looking back at him. Was she nervous about the others hearing?

"I know, but he's not watching our position. He's watching me." She whispered tightly.

"He said that?"

"He's always commenting on how I look, and when I told him to keep the radio chatter professional he somehow found my number and started calling me."

"What?" Casey fumed "How did he get your number?"

"I don't know. I figured maybe it was on file somewhere."

Casey was feeling a bit panicked all of a sudden. Images of Voight threatening Hallie flashed through his mind. Shay, broken and depressed after Darryl shot himself. There were so many things about the situation that felt wrong to him.

"Gabby –"

"Look, he hasn't actually done anything. It was just creeping me out a bit. The only reason I'm mentioning it at all is because it was upsetting Shay."

He wasn't convinced and she knew it, but somehow she'd managed to convince herself that she was overeacting.

"Matt, I'm fine." She smiled reassuringly, stroking his cheek. "I'm going to get something to eat. I hear Mills is cooking today."

Casey watched her go before heading out to the garage.

Shay was just finishing packing up their supplies when she saw Casey coming. She pulled herself up into the back and rested her chin on her knees.

"Let me guess, she tried to convince you it was nothing, right?"

"Yeah." He sighed, sitting down next to her. "Is it?"

"To be honest, I think there's something really off about Ramsey, and I think she's trying to convince herself that nothing's wrong."

"That's what I thought. What's really happening Shay?"

"Look, you know Dawson. She's not going to admit she's scared. Especially not now she feels she's got something to prove with the fire fighter's exam. But this guy has been scaring her for days now. It started out really innocent. Ramsey was just a bit chattier than your average dispatch officer. We didn't notice anything odd until he started commenting, you know. On stuff like how she seemed distracted or tired or whatever. She told him to keep it professional and he dropped it for a while. Next thing we know he's on shift whenever we are, and he's checking in on us all the time."

"What did Gabby say?"

Shay shrugged helplessly.

"She tried to ignore it. He still technically hadn't done anything, but he's clearly been watching her. Today, after she shut him down again she got a call from him. I only heard bits but he sounded upset. He started talking about their "connection". That's when she hung up on him. But then he was on the radio, saying he knows she didn't mean to hang up on him. Next thing we know he's texting her, asking why it took us so long to get back to the station and asking her out for a drink."

Casey ran his hand over his face. He looked exhausted, but then, Shay was tired too. It'd been a long shift without all of this.

"What can we do Casey? I've been a paramedic long enough to see what these things can turn into."

"Look Shay, you know I love Gabby, so you know what I _want _to do, but she's right. To the officials this would just look like nothing, you know? A dispatch officer showing friendly concern for a colleague. Context doesn't matter to them."

"But, Casey –"

"Look, I'm not saying we do nothing. We know about it, so we can keep an eye on her."

"Do we tell the others?"

"Not yet. She'd kill us if we did. We'll leave things as they are for now. Between the two of us, we'll always have her back. And if things change, then we tell the others."


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey guys, sorry for the really long delay. For those of you who are still with me (well done! you have more patience than I ever did!), hopefully I'll be able to warn you before any kind of a hiatus. I'm in the middle of my exams at the moment so hopefully this chapter can tide us over until I can start writing again (unless my brain is literally fried from the exams,which seems likely at this point!)_

_I don't own chicago fire or any of its characters._

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Dawson was perched on her chair at the end of the table listening to Hermann and Otis bicker about Molly's. As soon as Casey and Shay walked in she glanced between them before smiling widely at Casey.

Matt went straight to her, just like he always did. These quiet moments with her were his favourite part of the day. They rarely got to spend any real time together at work and he found himself missing her more and more often. Their hands found each other on the table top without any conscious thought. No matter what was going on in their lives, that contact was something they automatically sought.

"Just think about it Hermann. Karaoke Night would broaden our demographic."

"What demographic? C'mon Otis, Molly's is a fire fighter bar! It has character! I'm not going to let you turn it into some washed out, done-before, unoriginal..."

Casey tuned out of the conversation as soon as Hermann switched into rant-mode. Mills was banging around the kitchen, working on some culinary masterpiece, with Cruz at his shoulder. Otis and Hermann stood opposite them, trying to force them to take sides in their "discussion". Mouch, of course, was on the couch, with Pouch sprawled across his lap.

"So I'm guessing Shay talked to you," Gabby commented absently, picking at the lasagne Mills had just placed in front of her, "and I'm guessing she completely blew the whole situation out of proportion."

"What makes you say that?" he asked innocently.

"You're staring at me."

Casey grinned and leaned in to kiss her quickly.

"You," he said, "are my very beautiful girlfriend, and I retain the right to stare at you whenever I like."

Worried as he was, that was the absolute truth. Gabby had turned him into a hopeless romantic who found himself wondering how he had gotten so lucky.

"You're crazy." She laughed, kissing him soundly.

"And you two are making me nauseous." Severide quipped, sittind opposite Casey. "Seriously, what's with the PDA?"

"You jealous Severide?" Dawson teased.

"Yeah, he's always had a thing for Casey." Shay laughed, sitting next to Severide.

"Shut up Leslie. I'm trying to eat here."

"Aww, I think I hit a nerve!" she teased mercilessly.

By now Casey had pulled his chair around next to Dawson's and slung his arm around her shoulders. Gabby rested her head lightly against his shoulder.

"I always knew I was just a cover!" she fake-pouted. "I guess I'm just going to have to accept second place their bromance, huh Shay?"

"Sorry girl, I've tried to warn you." Leslie could hardly keep a straight face as Kelly and Matt blustered at their teasing.

Dawson had barely taken a bite of her food when the intercom tone rang out.

"Ambulance 61, collapsed male, 34 West and Whalton."

"Come on Gabby, let's leave these lovebirds alone." Shay couldn't resist one last scandalised look before sweeping out of the common room. Gabby sighed, pulling herself reluctantly from Casey's side and dropped kiss on his cheek before following her partner.

"Don't let anyone touch my food!" she called over her shoulder as she disappeared out the doors.

As soon as the two paramedics had left the room Casey slumped in his chair. His face slipped from humour to worry, and while Kelly Severide wasn't the most sensitive of guys, even he could tell something was going on with his best friend.

"Alright Matt, out with it." He said, leaning forward to look Casey in the eyes.

"Out with what?"

Matt Casey was about as good at lying as Hermann was at investing, and right now, he was lying through his teeth. Severide wasn't even going to argue with him about it. He just sat and stared his friend down until Casey conceded.

"It's Dawson." He finally relented. Severide frowned in confusion. That was not what he was expecting to hear.

"But you guys seem fine! Did you have a fight?"

"Not exactly." Matt hedged, "It's just... a difference of opinion."

"Cut the crap Casey." Kelly growled, "Tell me what's going on."

It wasn't really a big deal. He and Shay had agreed to wait before mentioning Ramsey to the others, but Severide was his best friend, not to mention Squad lieutenant. And considering his history with unwanted attention...

"Dude, you're staring."

"Sorry, I was just thinking..."

"About...?"

"Shay and I think Gabby has a stalker, or something like one, at least. She thinks we're blowing things out of proportion, but after what Shay told me, I'm not so sure."

"What do you mean by stalker? What did Shay say?"

"It's this dispatch officer, Ramsey. Shay says he's been... overly friendly... with Gabby when they're on duty. Apparently it's started to escalate. He found her phone number and started texting and calling her."

Casey was looking at Kelly with pleading eyes, silently begging his friend to tell him it was nothing; that Gabby was right and he was overreacting. Unfortunately, Severide had seen this kind of thing before, and it didn't always end pretty.

"How well does she know the guy?"

"That's just it! He showed up at Molly's a couple of weeks ago, but aside from that, they've never spoken socially. She'd never even told him about Molly's before."

A loud clang from the kitchen reminded them that they weren't alone in the room. Mills was cleaning the pans from lunch, but he was clearly trying to listen in. Subtlety had never been Peter's strong suit, but Kelly didn't blame him for being curious. Casey had a panicked look about him. His eyes were wide and worried and he kept running his hands through his cropped hair. Every one of these gestures was a tell. Casey was physically telegraphing his anxiety, and Mills had picked up on it.

Dropping his voice to a hushed whisper, Severide tried his best to answer his friend honestly.

"Look man, from the sounds of it he's done nothing illegal. You can't accuse him of being unprofessional with her, cus, well, you're sleeping with her. And that's about as unprofessional as it gets -"

"So you think it's nothing?" Casey snapped, but Severide knew him too well to take offence.

"I didn't say that." He mollified, "By the looks of things he hasn't turned sinister. Just tell her to be careful of how she talks to him; nothing to friendly, or antagonistic. Anything beyond a professional "please" and "thank you" is too much. She doesn't want to feed this fantasy of his."

"What do you mean by fantasy?"

"Look, this guy clearly believes that he and Dawson have this... friendship. And, just like a real relationship, if she doesn't contribute, it'll fade."

"So she has to, what? Bore him out of his interest in her?"

Casey's scowl had lessened as he mulled over Kelly's advice.

"Pretty much. It worked for me when that Ashley chick kept calling. It was a knight-in-shining-armour thing and I just had to let it play out. Trying to convince her that we didn't have a "connection" as she called it, just made her angry."

"Sleeping with her repeatedly probably didn't help."

Kelly swatted his friend over the head before huffing out a self-deprecating laugh.

"Fine, probably not." He admitted grudgingly, "But, in the end, Chief told me not to react, and he was right. She got bored and moved on."

Although Casey's mood had improved slightly, Severide could still see the worry weighing him down.

"Look, Casey, I'm guessing that nothing I say is going to make you stop worrying completely-". Severide paused, waiting for Casey to jump in. Instead, his fellow lieutenant just raised an eyebrow at him, as if to say _really?_

"- but Gabby's a tough one. She can definitely look after herself. Not to mention Shay. She'd never let anyone near Gabby if she thought they were a threat."

"You're right. I know you are, but..."

"But you love her. And, you're completely whipped, to the point that if anything was to happen to her, you would lose the ability to function like a human being."

Casey chuckled and tried to jab at him.

"She's your soulmate, your best friend! She completes y-"

He would have kept going had Casey not cut him off with a sharp jab to the spleen.

Chuckling as the Squad lieutenant wheezed in discomfort, Casey sat back in his chair with a satisfied smirk, his worry forgotten for a brief moment.

"You know I'm right though! You haven't even tried to deny it" Kelly gasped gleefully, still grasping his side. He could see Casey's cheeks redden slightly, proving his point further.

"Shut up Severide."


End file.
